Ofcom chief slams social media giants over Euro 2020 racist messages

Melanie Dawes vows to weed out online abuse and enforce new powers to fine platforms for slow response

The head of Britain's communications regulator will vow to take on social media firms over their failure to weed out online abuse this week, as she condemns their lack of success in dealing with the racism aimed at three England footballers.

The abuse aimed at Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka after they missed penalties in England's Euro 2020 final loss has led to a huge outpouring of support for the trio. However, they have also been targeted by a stream of racist messages and tropes that have plagued their social media accounts.